True Foods is a grassroots, food preservation collective based in the mid-Hudson Valley, NY (unceded land of the Lenape & Mohican people). We are in the practice of building a hyper-local, alternative model to growing, sharing & preserving food supported by a community-supported membership; together we garden, glean forage, cook, preserve, share skills in “seed-to-compost” and re-learn how to meet as many of our own food needs as possible in community.

Sign up to become a member HERE!

Yes, please. Why? Because we are very interested in growing at the pace of human connection, trust and building connections with like-hearted individuals and families in our community. We ask that members abide by our community agreements and be explicit with media consent in order to create a safe-as-possible environment especially in our current socio-political climate.

We are committed to making our offerings as accessible as possible, period. No one turned away due to lack of funds. Interested in joining but just don’t have the bread right now? There are always other ways to contribute and we are open to your ideas and suggestions. We are in no way interested in putting barriers between us, the natural world, food, community … etc. Contact us to start a conversation.

Yes! You can join our mailing list for updates, follow us on instagram and donate to the project here. You could also email us at TrueFoodsHV@gmail.com or use our contact page with your creative ideas to get involved, even if you are not local.

While our focus in on folks who live and/or work in the Hudson Valley (within ~1hr radius to Kingston, NY), our long-term vision is to inspire folks to use our model to create more “True Foods” hubs in their own communities.

Short answer: foraging, gleaning & food preservation

Longer answer your auntie might give… Whatever you put your mind to! But for real, this type of work requires curiosity, hands-on practice and willingness to fail and bounce back. Food work is often experimental and comes with new, uncharted territory when it comes to our eating habits, familiarity with certain foods or ways that we interact with the foods we eat. At True Foods, though we have a special place in our hearts for foraging and food preservation, we dabble in everything from “seed-to-compost”, as it takes a big set of skills and equipment to be able to effectively and efficiently work with food. Think of our collective as a “independent-study CSE”, aka “Community Supported Education”. We believe in shared leadership and in drawing on collective knowledge rather than relying on a single “expert” for answers when it comes to food work; at the end of the day, you will know best what works for you and your body. Our collective thrives on the fact that different folks have experiences in different areas of food, and that we are open and generous with our knowledge.

As the season develops, we may host other pop-up gatherings and events which ask members to get involved in light building projects, organization & equipment upkeep, managing wild and abundant foods on the land or even relational and community work. Food is abundant, but not predictable.. ! So, we adapt to the flow of the seasons, our capacities and community needs.

Membership contributions help us cover three main types of expenses.

1 - online & business services (mail chimp, Squarespace, LLC fees)

2- physical & perishable supplies needed for food preservation (oil, salt, vinegar as well as upkeeping equipment such as blenders, dehydrators etc.)

3- Because we are in the beginning stages of this phase of our membership journey, we are still figuring this one out: the remaining funds will be split between the True Foods Team members as a monthly stipend for the SIGNIFICANT effort which goes into planning, coordinating, community-building, staying up crazy late to finish the last bits of autumn olive fruit leather… etc.

In all honesty, we started at the cost of a basic Netflix membership because … if we can be sitting at home, we can be out here foraging amIright? To cover the 2.9% + $0.30 cost of transaction fees, we raised the price slightly to $13 even. Because this is an experiment in collective contribution, we can’t say how this will pan out! We will however be fully transparent with our expenses and income at the end of each season with all of our members.

Yes; we are an intergenerational community who loves the youths & there is always a way for them to get involved in the foraging and processing work that we do. We can guarantee that. What we cannot guarantee is that on any given day, your youth will be brimming with excitement, interest and focus.. ready to participate :D While we do our best to engage all people of all experience levels, regardless of their age, youth should be accompanied by a trusted and loving guardian who can help lead them through activities. Over time, the number of trusted and loving guardians able to do that for your youth will grow as you attend more events!

It’s possible that some events may not be suitable for youth for example if they require larger tools, difficult terrain or are focused on logistical/strategic aspects of our operation; in these cases, we will be transparent about those things with members.

Write us at TrueFoodsHV@gmail.com or CLICK HERE for a direct link to our contact page. We love to hear your excitement, interests and suggestions.

You will receive an email when you become a member which has links to canceling your subscription. You can cancel at any time and will not be charged for the next billing cycle. There is no minimum number of months you need to sign up for to become a member.

You can also cancel your subscription directly through your account on our website.

First of all, thank you!! We love connecting with farmers, gardeners & other food workers of all types in the Hudson Valley. Soon we will have a more streamlined process for partners to get involved. In the meantime, if you’d like to connect please email us at TrueFoodsHV@gmail.com to start a conversation or CLICK HERE for a link to our contact page.